Early on, favorability points were the easiest to farm. With a little effort, maybe she could stockpile enough for another two ten-pulls today.
Perils lurked on every side in the immortal cultivation world, and she might be targeted by some big shot and secretly offed any day now. She had to prepare some trump cards for self-preservation as soon as possible.
Xia Wantang's current cultivation was far too low and weak; even with two lives, it would not be enough to squander.
Thinking this, she drew her sword and flew toward Lingyun Peak, where the Holy Son resided.
Barely had she landed when Xia Wantang noticed a male cultivator practicing his sword beneath a tree.
The man's visage was like the first light of dawn. Looking closely at his facial features, they possessed an extreme delicacy, carrying a beauty that straddled the line between masculine and feminine.
His jawline cast a golden glow in the sunlight, and his phoenix eyes were slanted and narrow, striking a balance between tender and fierce, while his pitch-black pupils seemed capable of seeing through everything.
His pale pink lips were pressed into a thin line, the very physiognomy of an unfeeling person.
Clad in golden robes, he not only exuded a sacred aura but also carried a hint of unbridled wickedness, possessing a naturally roguish and dashing demeanor.
This must be Fu Lingyun, the Holy Son of Azure Cloud Palace.
Xia Wantang could not help but shower him with praise at the sight: He truly lives up to his billing as the absolute peak of visual aesthetics among the ensemble male leads—he's genuinely, ruggedly handsome.
Fu Lingyun was not only the Holy Son, but also the son of Palace Lord Fu Hanqiu.
Yet Xia Wantang, who had read the novel, knew very well that Fu Lingyun's identity was far from as simple as it appeared on the surface.
True, she herself was a fraudulent Saintess, but her counterpart was no genuine Fu Lingyun either—he was an authentic fake.
Fu Lingyun's true identity was the Demon Prince, with the original name Ye Xing.
The Devil Race possessed exceptionally long lifespans. Despite looking merely around twenty years of age, his true age was already past a century.
Neither was his cultivation at the peak of the Mystic Martial Realm as proclaimed to the outside world; instead, it sat in the late stage of the Spirit Channeling Realm, more than enough to serve as the First Elder of Azure Cloud Palace.
As for the real Fu Lingyun, he had perished young during a trial in his childhood.
Ye Xing had happened to be pursued by enemies at the time and came across Fu Lingyun's corpse, prompting him to alter his features and assume Fu Lingyun's identity under false pretenses.
As time passed, he had also begun to gradually recover his true appearance.
Ye Xing held no grudges or enmity whatsoever against Azure Cloud Palace. On the contrary, he was actually grateful to them.
Right up until the novel's conclusion, he treated Fu Hanqiu as half a father.
That said, one had to admit how truly miserable Azure Cloud Palace was: neither the Holy Son nor the Saintess turned out to be real.
Noticing Xia Wantang, Ye Xing halted his sword practice and cast a meaningful look in her direction:
"Since the Saintess has graced us with her presence, Lingyun fails to welcome you from afar."
"I wonder what instruction the Saintess brings?"
Ye Xing's attitude could hardly be called pleasant. Xia Wantang felt a strange sensation in her heart and hurriedly searched her memories to see if the original owner had any past grievances with him.
The moment she searched, however, her heart plunged: Crap! I might already be on Ye Xing's radar.
As luck would have it, just two days ago, while Ye Xing was practicing devil qi in the back mountains, he had been run into by the original owner.
At the time, the original owner had merely revealed a patch of pale golden robe hem before the First Elder discovered the trace of devil qi and rushed over in time, leaving Ye Xing no leisure to pursue the matter.
Coupled with the fact that the original owner was originally slated not to survive today, Ye Xing had not bothered to investigate further.
Right now, however, things were different—Xia Wantang was still very much alive.
Gazing at the picturesque woman before him, Ye Xing inwardly frowned:
My identity as a member of the Devil Race must absolutely not be exposed. I must nip this risk in the bud.
"Why is the Saintess standing there in a daze without speaking?"
"Pale gold suits you well; it makes the Saintess's beauty stand out even more."
This was unmistakably a knife hidden within a smile.
Across all of Lingyun Peak, only the garments of the Holy Son and the Saintess were pale gold.
As for the sect master and the First Elder, they uniformly wore white attire.
The disciples wore pale cyan garments, differentiated only by the patterns embroidered on the robes of inner and outer sect disciples.
Although Ye Xing was not certain who the person who had run into him that day was, the scope of a pale golden robe hem was far too narrow, allowing him to lock onto the target in practically a second.
He spoke these words precisely to observe Xia Wantang's reaction and see if she would harbor a guilty conscience.
To be honest, he was quite surprised that she had delivered herself to his doorstep today:
Although he had indeed planned to seek her out over the past two days, why would anyone proactively hurl themselves into the muzzle of a gun?
Hearing this, Xia Wantang's heart tightened.
Ye Xing was a Demon Prince, not some naive little boy; he was not so easily fooled.
Furthermore, the man's cultivation was more than sufficient to slaughter ten of her in a split second. Saying the wrong thing could genuinely cost her her life!
She even suspected that the demise of the previous Saintess might well have had a hand from Ye Xing.
The novel had never mentioned it, but it was highly probable that the former Saintess had also stumbled upon Ye Xing cultivating devil qi and consequently met her doom.
And this Ye Xing, too—cultivating devil qi is such a massive deal, why couldn't he sneak around instead of getting caught red-handed in broad daylight? Very amusing, isn't it?
Incomprehensible, and completely disrespectful.
Host, Host, don't forget you're the peak of visual aesthetics!
Flirt with him a little; maybe Ye Xing will soften his heart?
Xia Wantang: ...I believe your ghost stories! You lousy system are rotten to the core!
Still, it was something worth trying. She had come here precisely to farm favorability points in the first place.
Besides, they were all in the same sect, and holding the statuses of Holy Son and Saintess, they were bound to run into each other constantly. Even if she didn't muddle through today, she would have to face him in the future.
Rapidly churning through a few coping strategies in her mind, Xia Wantang feigned flustered embarrassment with a reddened face:
"This... why is the Holy Son speaking so... directly today?"
"The Holy Son's heroic bearing while practicing swordsmanship... is also quite dashing, which is why Wantang was captivated by the Holy Son's demeanor just now and drifted off into a daze."
Xia Wantang's face was naturally striking, though she usually wore an aloof expression that projected an untouchable sense of distance.
Now, with flushed cheeks glowing like the morning sun reflecting on clouds and radiant like lotus flowers emerging from rippling waves, she looked far more vibrant than usual, carrying a touch of worldly warmth that made her doubly bewitching.
The words she uttered were equally explosive, sounding precisely like a young maiden whose heart had just been stirred.
This declaration clearly caught Ye Xing off guard, causing him to cough awkwardly twice:
Could it be that this new Saintess has taken a fancy to me? Well, I suppose she still has a shred of discernment.
"Ahem, right, where was the Saintess yesterday evening?"
As he asked, Ye Xing's expression remained as usual, but his favorability points betrayed him:
Host has obtained 10 favorability points from Ye Xing. Current favorability: 10. Converted to 100 faith points.
Not bad, Host. Just two sentences made Ye Xing's heart skip a beat. You truly are the goddess of the dating-sim world!
Xia Wantang: ...Only ten favorability points? We still have a long way to go.
Still, this Ye Xing was quite valuable; the ratio of favorability points to faith points was one to ten. Just like with Xiao Rui, another ten-pull was in sight.
"Naturally, in the back mountains... Why must the Holy Son ask when he already knows!"
Before you continue